Eric wrote:Thought I would check beck in on my favorite message board to see how everyone was doing after this weekend
Too bad I didn't stop by sooner, I could have told you TCU would win the game. My analysis all year on Michigan football is that a) they haven't played a schedule that would prepare them for this moment b) they rely too much on bulldozing teams like Rutgers and Indiana to work out kinks in the passing game and get J.J. McCarthy with the proper chemistry with the wideouts and c) they are massive choke artists.
Regarding Point A, the Big 12 was seriously underrated and given no respect. The fact that TCU ran the table, which included test after test after test on a weekly basis, is seriously impressive. I doubt Michigan, Alabama, or Ohio State would have finished undefeated after a conference championship game in the Big 12. There aren't any world beaters in that conference outside of TCU, but everyone is at least solid, even Iowa State and West Virginia who failed to qualify for a bowl game (because of a 9-game conference schedule). Those two teams are better or equal to a handful of B1G teams that went bowling. And the B1G has 4 absolute dregs (Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Rutgers). How the national media missed this, I have no idea, but the B1G continually leans into hype because they have more more $$$ and bigger fan bases. Pac-12 and Big 12 were flat out better top to bottom and barely got any credit for it, because they exist in smaller media markets.
Regarding Point B, their offensive scheme has been whacked out since the day Harbaugh set foot on campus. His first style of offense which was complete pro-style was effective at running the football, but had a 0% chance of winning a shootout. He had to adjust in order to keep up with Ohio State because he also had trouble attracting pro talent at QB and WR. They made a horrible attempt at modernizing the offense by hiring Josh Gattis when I could have named 50 better candidates to run some type of Air Raid / misdirection / spread option offense that 70% of college teams run now (because they correctly understand that it maximizes their talent; if you aren't running this offense or implementing its schemes into your offensive system, you are losing ground). Michigan shields their skill players because they think it puts the game in jeopardy when they can rely on the running game and coast to victory. It's sort of made Michigan upset-proof in a way that Harbaugh & Co. don't lose to teams like Maryland or Indiana, but they struggle in big moments because they haven't been tested.
Regarding Point C, they are choke artists because the general attitude that permeates the Michigan program is one of entitlement. They want to be an elite football program but they don't have the results to back it up. If you compare our football product with Iowa over the last 20 seasons, we're pretty darn close. Imagine Iowa going around telling people how amazing they are because of what they did in the 1940s and the mid-90s and see how the rest of CFB would react. Our fan base thought we would steamroll TCU because the sports media was absolutely in the tank believing our BS and the winged helmet and because TCU has funky uniforms, has a nickname like the "Horned Frogs", and played in C-USA 20 years ago. TCU has been an elite football school for over a decade now and people should have had time to adjust their expectations, but the Michigan fantasy still has pull for a lot of people. None of this is to say that Michigan isn't better, we had better football players, but they were unprepared by an unserious amateur coaching staff and the players themselves arrogantly bought into their own hype. TCU hit us early while Michigan joked around running Philly Special on the 2 and handing the ball off to a converted LB (when the Bush Push is legal now--Hello!!). Sonny Dykes coached the game like an adult and we lost.
We're in a weird spot because Harbaugh is why we are here in the first place, but he has a tendency to make insane, catastrophic decisions that burn us. And after all of this, Michigan isn't going to learn anything for 2023. We have a tougher road schedule, but another easy non-conference schedule. We'll lean on the running game to get us out of jams. I'm excited about our incoming transfer class and the position coaches will have a lot to work with. I expect to see a lot of progression at the new O-lineman and the pass rushers and the secondary. But we're going to head into 2023 as probably the B1G favorite and if we somehow get past Ohio State at home and that tougher schedule, we're going to ride into the CFP high on our own supply AGAIN. McCarthy isn't helping by pretending to be the second coming of Tim Tebow. It's pretty embarrassing that he's still talking a big game and not eating humble pie after throwing two erratic pick 6's. Oh well.
That's my yearly rant to cap another funny Michigan failure. See you next season!
Eric!!! Long time no see. Good to hear from you!